January Flowers

Each year, I breathe a sigh of relief on the night of December 25 and ponder how it all got done. The stress of the holidays are almost over. All that is left to do is crack open a bottle of champagne in six days and welcome the new year. Then the Christmas decor is ripped away, and suddenly everything seems bare. I wonder what the new year will bring and continue my tradition of writing down the questions that I will know the answers to in twelve months. Where will my son go to college? Will my friend’s baby be a boy or a girl? Will I get a new job? Will anything become of The Pembrooke Place? And most importantly, who will win the Game of Thrones? And like always, I fill my house with fresh flowers. It seems an unbearably long wait until the cold weather yields to the springtime warmth and the daffodils and tulips emerge from the soil. The birch candle holders that were scattered around the house during the Christmas season transform into the vases to hold the flowers, and instantly all is still merry and bright.